We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Blue Wing

from Sock It To Me! by Jan Hauenstein

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $0.75 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Written by Tom Russell.

lyrics

Blue Wing Tom Russell

(C) He had a blue wing tattooed on his shoulder,
Well, it might have been a bluebird, I don't (Dm)know,
But he’d get stone drunk and talk about Alaska,
The (G)salmon boats and 45 be(C)low.
He said he got that blue wing up in Walla Walla,
Where his cellmate there was a Little Willy (Dm)John,
And Willie, he was once a great blues singer,
And (G)winging Willie wrote him up a (C)song.

They said it's dark in here, can't see the (F)sky,
But I (C)look at this blue wing and I close my (G)eyes.
Yeah, I´ll fly a(C)way, beyond these (F)walls,
Up above the (C)clouds, where the rain don't (G)fall
On a poor man's (Am)dreams. (G) (C)

Well, they paroled Blue Wing in August, 1963,
And he moved on, picking apples, to the (Dm)town of Wenatchee.
And winter finally caught him in a rundown trailer park,
On the (G)south side of Seattle where the (C)days grow gray and dark.
And he drank and he dreamt a vision of when the salmon still ran free
And his father's fathers crossed that wide old (Dm)Bering Sea,
And the land belonged to everyone, and there were old songs yet to sing,
Now it's (G)narrowed down to a cheap hotel and a (C)tattooed prison wing.

He said it's dark in here, can't see the (F)sky,
But I (C)look at this blue wing and I close my (G)eyes.
And then I´ll fly a(C)way, beyond these (F)walls,
Up above the (C)clouds, where the rain don't (G)fall
On a poor man's (Am)dreams. (G) (Am) (G) (C)

Well, he drank his way to LA, and that's where he died,
But no one knew his Christian name, and there was (Dm)no one there who cried,
But I dreamt there was a service, a preacher and an old pine box,
And (G)halfway through the sermon, you know, Blue (C)Wing began to talk.

He said, “It's dark in here, can't see the (F)sky,
But I (C)look at this blue wing and I close my (G)eyes.
And then I´ll fly a(C)way, beyond these (F)walls,
Up above the (C)clouds, where the rain don't (G)fall
On a poor man's (Am)dreams, yeah-(G)hey,
On a poor man's (Am)dreams, yeah-(G)hey,
On a poor man's (C)dreams.”

© Tom Russell, All Rights Reserved

This is the live version. I capo up 2nd or 3rd fret.

janhauenstein@gmx.de

www.janhauenstein.com

credits

from Sock It To Me!, released August 28, 2016

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Jan Hauenstein image

Jan Hauenstein Göttingen, Germany

More than background music.
You'll hear folk, blues, jazzy songs, rock. Big voice. Albums recommended by Gordon Bok, Harvey Andrews, Jez Lowe and others.
janhauenstein@gmx.de
Why no free uploads? I cover songs. Register them with the German music rights agency GEMA. They hopefully reimburse the artists. The tax authorities demand that I make (not lose) a little money each year... ... more

contact / help

Contact Jan Hauenstein

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Jan Hauenstein, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Seafood Sam joins the show to discuss his newest album, " Standing On Giant Shoulders".
listen now